As I was clicking on the link, I was thinking "I wonder if it's just another one of those bogus stories about the Kauffman Foundation statistics." Yep.<p>(Bogus because the surprisingness comes not from the numbers themselves, but from confusing the concepts of entrepreneur and startup founder. The first paragraph is a prime example.)
What amazes me is that in relatively short lists of things on internet I often see duplicates. May this be lists of jokes, arguments even photos. Copies are usually close to each other, often on the same mid sized page. Is there something in creators psyche that causes having a blind spot on such duplicates?<p>Example from this article:<p>4. More than half (51.9 percent) of respondents were the first in their families to launch a business.<p>11. Entrepreneurship doesn’t always run in the family. More than half (51.9 percent) of respondents were the first in their families to launch a business.
The only thing on this list that surprised me is that someone would actually think the common entrepreneur is "pretty young, living the red beans and rice lifestyle and working 80+ hours a week and sleeping under their desk".<p>Up where I'm from, entrepreneurs are typically middle aged, financially stable, and breaking ground on their new business because they've been working toward it their whole lives.<p>I work with entrepreneurs daily in my consulting business, and it's extremely rare, outside of real estate agents, for me to work with someone under 30 to 40 years of age, with a family, who just started their business.<p>Why do all these blogs constantly think that all "entrepreneurs" == "startup". Get out of your box!
>Entrepreneurship doesn’t always run in the family. More than half (51.9 percent) of respondents were the first in their families to launch a business.<p>the converse of this is more surprising. The ball-park null hypothesis is that only 0.29% (290 for every 100,000 individuals) should come from family with history of entrepreneurs - but observed figure is ~50%. From this one should conclude that entrepreneurship does run in families.
Some of the things the commenters find surprising really aren't. For instance that starting a business when married is risky. If anything I think its exactly the opposite. My wife started her first (non-tech!) business about a year after we were married and a large part of the reason is that if she had done it while single, she would not have had health insurance. She's now on her second business venture.<p>A single data point to be sure, but it does lend credence to the idea that losing health insurance is a significant factor in people not quitting their jobs to go out on their own.
So, the 20-something founder/revolutionary is an <i>anecdote</i> and not a trend! I get it now!<p>All this verifies is the existence of the silent majority of older, more experienced founders.
11. Entrepreneurship doesn’t always run in the family. More than half (51.9 percent) of respondents were the first in their families to launch a business.<p>This may be partly due to the fact that if your parents own a business, you're much more likely to work for them or inherit the business (than if they don't). Your parents or some other family member owning a company just gives you an extra option that might make starting your own business seem less attractive.
Another dimension that would have been interesting to consider in this study is immigrant entrepreneurship.
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/02/immigration-india-china-ent-law-cx_kw_0703whartonimmigration.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/02/immigration-india-china-ent...</a>